Karen Julia Carney OBE (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist[3] and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder.

Following two seasons with Chicago Red Stars in the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), Carney re-joined Birmingham City from 2011 to 2015.

Carney finished her career with Chelsea where she was named Player of the Year in 2016 and captained the club to an FA Women's Cup title in 2017–18.

She made her first-team debut for Birmingham City in the FA Women's Premier League National Division against Fulham Ladies at the age of 14.

After a new professional league was announced in the United States, Carney was selected by Chicago Red Stars in the third round (19th overall) of the 2008 WPS International Draft.

[17] In the inaugural 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Carney appeared in and started 17 games (1471 minutes) and scored two goals while assisting on another.

[18] In October 2014 Carney was fined and received a one-match suspension for an incident in July when she told opposition player Natalia Pablos to "fuck off back to Spain".

[31] In the last game of the 2014 FA WSL season, she missed a penalty in Birmingham City's 2–2 draw with Notts County that might have led to a league title.

[33] She scored two penalties in Birmingham's 3–0 win at relegation-bound Bristol Academy in September 2015, to help secure the club's WSL 1 status.

[34] Despite national team duty at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Carney finished the 2015 season with three goals in 11 matches.

[35] In December 2015, Carney left Birmingham for the second time in her career, transferring to FA WSL champions Chelsea on a two-year contract.

She was described as "world-class" by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who previously worked with Carney at Arsenal and Chicago Red Stars.

[39] After the match, Hayes noted, "Karen Carney was at the heart and the core of everything, especially in the first half, and she looks like she's been playing at Chelsea for years.

[42] After extending her contract with Chelsea through 2020,[41] Carney's four goals in the seven matches she competed in during the 2017 FA WSL ranked third in the league.

[18] In October 2018, Carney's ninth-minute penalty goal captained Chelsea's 1–0 Women's Champions League win over Fiorentina.

[12] The same year, she was an integral part of the team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2005 and scored a last-minute, game-winning goal in the 3–2 win over Finland, which earned her significant media attention.

[49] In the semi-final win over the Netherlands, Powell utilised 20-year-old Jessica Clarke's pace and energy to tire the Dutch full-backs, before introducing substitute Carney to decisive effect.

[50] On 23 November 2014, Carney competed in her 100th senior international match in a 3–0 loss to Germany at Wembley Stadium in front of a record 45,619 fans.

It's every boy's dream to play at Wembley so for me being a girl and leading the national team out at one of the most iconic stadiums in the world is a moment I will never forget.

"[10] In May 2015, England manager Mark Sampson named Carney in his final squad for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada.

[59] Carney was allotted 160 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

[63] Carney and Liesel Jolly co-created "the Second Half"; a programme supporting women footballers in their careers post-football.

[64] In August 2022, Carney was appointed Chair of the Future of Women's Football Review for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, looking into ways the Government can nurture and expand the game in the UK.